Diablo 2: Pondera: Act 1: Acerbitas
by Rastaban Bright
Summary: DISCONTINUED Use it as a reference for the hilarity of how badly I used to write. Hurr durr. It's terrible. I mean, who calls their character Darkness? Ugh.
1. Prologue

Before I begin. I would like to thank two people.

**Bob the Barbarian**: You rock mate, you've been like…my oober friend. Even though you're on the other side of the world.

**The Prenologikal Cat**: This girl here? (Go us Aussies) Yeah, she gave me some lifesaving pointers. And now. The story is bein' re-done… again. But it WILL work. I DEMAND IT!!!!

XD

And no I don't do the 'oh squee look at me I got reviews', I just think I need to publicly thank these two, seeing as just how much they have helped. Man, I'm a butt kisser.

Now the thing about the story this time is, it isn't supposed to be comedic. It follows my personal character that I have made up lots of stuff for. I own her. She is copyrighted to me. Unless without my knowing Blizzard created the Draconys-Necros.

**__**

**_Prologue:_**

**_Losing _**

_A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.  
- Opening scene of "Faust" _

--- --- ---

The long awaited night toppled coolly onto the camp, nevertheless, it was too late.

A lone figure stumbled sobbing into the village of carcasses of buildings, and messes of bodies strewn everywhere.

A hand dangled out of a pile of rubble that burnt mercilessly, she recognised a tattoo on it; the ivy wrapped around a sword carefully inked into the wrist.

She ran towards it, heedless of the fierce fire, burning away at her skin.

"Illareth!" She cried her brother's name amid the torture and destruction.

The shadows moved.

The young woman trod on a plank of wood that was part of the rubble, it crumbled under the last amount of pressure it could withstand, the rubble pile shifted, and the hand tumbled to the ground, unattached to its former body.

She was horrified; she span on her heel and cast her gaze across the carnage in the place where she had lived her whole life.

Here, a wing with all the bones snapped and nowhere was the body to whom it belonged; there a delicate patterned snake-like tail; here the head of a friend she once knew, his fangs bared in anger or agony, his leathery hide ripped and cast away.

By a fire one of her people half transformed, the leather wings that spouted from her back were ripped and torn, one lost completely, and another figure with its internal organs spilled carelessly across the ground

The shadows moved into the light, laughter and cackling air.

But she was gone. So far gone that, when she turned to face the vile creatures that had violated everything she lived for, her eyes were coloured as the void, and the small acid gold beheld the demons that desecrated her home.

In a flash, there was a dragon among them, tearing with claws, teeth, darkest fire licking bones to blackest ashes. Then they were gone.

--- --- ---

She found him, a teacher and almost a father when she had lost her own, in her madness she performed the ritual to absorb his memories.

And all the darkness leeched to her heart.

She slept among the massacre.


	2. Chapter 1 Light in the Dark

**Author's Note: **Just a side note, this is happening as it probably would, not with all the skill tree crap, I'll explain how the magic and stuff works, they all know what all the spells are, it just takes different amounts of spiritual energy to be able to use the skills, also they may not be successful, and so practise is also a major factor.

Some things, like Darkness' transformation abilities come naturally, however, her form changes the more powerful she gets and the transformation takes spiritual energy, which would have to recharge; and therefore she can't use any magic for a while after transformation either way.

Also, just because they know and have enough spiritual energy to cast a spell, doesn't always mean that they'll be successful; it just means that they'll waste some mana.

Now, I shall go on with the story.

**_Chapter 1: _**

**_The Light in the Dark _**

_Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.  
- Margaret Mead_

--- --- ---

The sky was shadowed with plump clouds. Rain was due to fall at any moment; thunder already split the sky in two.

A shadowy figure stumbled wearily towards an impromptu encampment.

Her destination, the makeshift fortress for the surviving rogues, was a flimsy protection against the furious jaws of Hell that had swallowed all she lived for six months before.

A deftly aimed arrow skewered the ground and inch from her foot. The figure looked up from under the rim of her dark cloak's hood. A young rogue entered her view, another arrow knocked into her well maintained short bow.

"What is your business here stranger?" The brown haired woman yelled, aiming deftly with an arrow that would not miss if fired.

"I come from no home now; I seek shelter and rest; and perhaps a chance at revenge." The stranger answered, she flipped back her hood to reveal hair as black as jet, eyes the colour of shining bronze, and skin that was pale olive.

"Who are you to take this vengeance against?" The rogue was set back on edge; the arrow was drawn further back.

"Revenge against the vile creatures that razed my village; I have no qualm with the rogues." The young woman in the cloak stated bluntly.

"Then state your name and your purpose!"

"I lost my name in the rubble of my town, I am known as Darkness, and I am the bane of any evil that dares walk this realm, my purpose, is to destroy it." Darkness was beginning to get impatient, she had traveled from what seemed like the other side of the world and a _rogue_ was holding her from rest.

"Enter, go straight to the Captain of the rogues, she will deal with you." The rogue lowered her bow and opened the flimsy gate that 'protected' the encampment. She indicated a mail clad red headed rogue; Darkness assumed she was the Captain.

"Thank you." Darkness brushed passed the rogue guard and entered the encampment. She headed straight for the Captain, not wanting to cause any trouble.

The Rogue captain saw her coming and met her with a blatantly objective stare down her nose.

"Well, outlander, why are _you_ here? Perhaps to join the seven others already here to combat the evil that has taken our monastery?" She said this with such sarcasm, that Darkness was sure she expected a no, however she shrugged it off.

"If they are fighting the same evil I have chased to this point then yes, I am here to destroy the evil that has taken your monastery."

The Captain nodded and with a small amount of assent in her voice as she introduced herself as Captain Kashya. Kashya directed Darkness to Akara, the priestess of the camp; she sent her off with a warning that if she did intend harm to the rogues, that Akara would know in an instant.

Darkness headed in the general direction of the tent; along the way she passed some incredible bored looking rogues who took it upon them selves to give her venomous glares. _'They're not exactly a very trusting lot.' _

The tent was a very astonishing…purple. Akara, the priestess of the Sightless Eye, as she introduced herself, was an aging wrinkled mess of wisdom and ancient healing magic.

'Welcome child,' Darkness winced inwardly at being called a child, an action only her late master had done, 'I'm afraid I can but offer you poor shelter within these rickety walls. Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish, has driven us from our monastery, and now we take shelter in this camp. If you are one of the people who have come to help destroy Andariel, and then I hope you will accept the help of the others who came.' Akara spread her arms in welcome and smiled warmly.

With a nod Darkness took her own turn to speak, 'I answer to the name of Darkness. I have chased this evil far from my lost home, and I shall continue, and it has come to my attention that part is rooted in your monastery, so in joining these 'others'…I guess I will.'

With an ever growing warm smile Akara thanked her graciously and told her of a tent that she could store her belongings in, and rest in.

----

The tent had been at least four meters by six meters, and there were four bed rolls evenly spaced along it as well as a tub for washing and four chests; one of the bed rolls and one of the chests seemed to be freshly placed, word travels quickly around such a small encampment.

Darkness placed her only belongings neatly next to the new bedroll, her rucksack that held two other shirts and another pair of her black breeches, a tome of all she had learned and could learn, a few scrolls, and a few potions of restoration. She left her silver long sword, En'ubys, with her rucksack and put her kris on her belt.

After discarding her cloak, she walked out of the tent. Her hand went to the opal in the hilt of her kris for comfort; Darkness took a deep breath, and crossed towards the fire in the middle of the camp.

----

Darkness approached the fire. She saw a lone figure sitting by the fire, he was young, he couldn't have been more than twenty; two years older that Darkness was herself. Judging by his attire and the crude wand hanging at his waist, he was a Necromancer.

Now Darkness' people and Necromancers had had no quarrels until earlier in Darkness' lifetime. There was a tragedy and either people believed that the other had instigated it, it lead to a massive upheaval of any contact between the two peoples; it had left a bitter mark on all of them.

Therefore Darkness saw it best avoid the young Necromancer. She saw an older, rather burly, man standing by a wagon, she approached him.

'Greetings traveler,' He said mildly, 'how far have you come and from where?'

'Merry meet to you, I hail from the Umbra Mountains far to the west.' Darkness mentioned the name of her birth area with pride.

Warriv, as he happened to be called, was astonished, 'The western Spine? You must have been traveling for a very long time. What brings you here?'

Darkness turned here eyes elsewhere, counting the figures hovering about the fire, 'I traveled six months, all the while following a voice on the breeze that whispered of retribution.'

'Ah.' Warriv left it at that. He may not have been one of the most intellectual people, but he could definitely tell discomfort or sadness in a person's voice.

Darkness left Warriv's company and launched herself onto a wall, where, seated, she could survey her surroundings better.

There were three women talking about nine feet from the fire, by Darkness' reckoning there was an Amazon, a Sorceress and to her mild surprise and amusement, an Assassin.

A Paladin and a Barbarian were engaged in a deep conversation, which Darkness could only guess was about battle, seeing as they both looked to be hardened warriors, though the Paladin seemed much younger than the Barbarian.

'And I'm the Druid; I'm 37, which is still young by my standards, and I'm named for a tree.' Darkness turned abruptly to see a lightly wrinkled face grinning at her. The Druid was at least six foot four, and had a long braid of deep copper hair.

He held out his hand, 'I'm Rowan.' Darkness shook his hand, a slight smile on her face.

'Darkness.'

'Where do you hail from Darkness? I come from the High Lands, the Sacred Forests around the base of Mount Arreat.'

'I come from the Umbra Mountains of the western Spine.'

Rowan looked surprised, 'Oh really? So you must be one of the Draconys-Necros people? That's fascinating, I've never met one of your people before, and in fact you kind have passed into legend among my people.' He beamed again. 'It's nice to meet a fellow Shape Shifter!' He slapped her on the back, and she almost fell off the low wall that she was perched on.

With a laugh, tinged slightly with bitterness, she responded, 'It is a pleasure to meet you too, sir, but I'm afraid you may not come across any more of my kind. All that I know of were wiped out by the very evil that I trail.'

Rowan looked sympathetic, 'That's terrible.'

There was a silence between the two.

'I should probably tell you about the others. We all seem to have the same goal, but I'm the only person who noticed you arriving.'

A quizzical look crossed Darkness' features, 'How _did_ you know I was coming?'

A black shadow flapped down and landed on Rowan's shoulder. A large raven carked at her.

'Why, Nike told me.'

--- --- ---

Rowan walked with Darkness for a bit, telling her the base layout of the camp, where a few nice spots to sit were, and trivial things.

They were quiet for a bit, a darker mood descending upon them both.

'Now, as this I believe is a morbid formal matter, so I shall hand you an equally morbid and formal introduction of myself, then you can go meet the others of your own accord; you would do well to do so, you'll be banded with all of us for the entirety of this damned siege.' Rowan stopped walking, Darkness halting a few feet in front of him; she turned sideways to hear him out. 'I am Rowan Siobhan of the Scosglen Druids; I am a Secret-Master at the Greatest of the Druid Colleges, _Túr Dúlra_. I am elite among the Druids in the way of _Caoi Dúlra_, the art of being one with Nature that the Druids hold sacred. I come in the name of the great oak Glór-an-Fháidha to defeat the cursed evils, and to aid the victory of Sanctuary over Hell at the time of _Uileloscadh Mór_.' Rowan nodded grimly, as the words set his path in stone, 'Now, go tell of yourself to the others.'

They parted. Darkness watched Rowan's back for a short while before turning to the sound of metal clanging on metal; not the sound of battle, but of forging.

Darkness walked towards the forge, two large forms stood by the bellows and metal. The soft glow of red from the furnace and then hum of conversation sifted the air like fingers though sand.

The night was still, peaceful almost, before the morrow.

The two figures, one, the male, of definite Barbarian heritage, the other, the female, most likely part Barbarian. With the official sigh of resignation to the task at hand, Darkness approached the forge.

'Well hello there! I'm Charsi, the blacksmith here in town, who might you be?' The blonde female, Charsi, called. She strolled towards Darkness and held out a gloved hand.

'I'm called Darkness. I'm here to aid in the destruction of Andariel…hopefully.' Charsi's happy demeanour made Darkness' mouth pull at the corners; it was nice to hear someone so cheerful in such a time of evil and uncertainty.

'Really?' Charsi's eyes widened, 'That's great, thank you! Oh, this is Vorak, he's a Barbarian. He's here to do the same thing, only right now he's surrendered to helping me at the forge.' Charsi grinned at the Barbarian who had just been brought into the conversation.

Vorak nodded in acknowledgement.

Darkness figured that that was all she was going to get, so she bowed out and headed off to find her next victim of induction.

--- --- ---

She walked away form the Amazon woman to again seek the next of the apparent Seven, now Eight warriors come to fight for people who they had never met before.

This Amazon though seemed very much like the business person, her name was Kiyana and she was an Amazon from the shores of the South Sea, which was ironically, north of the rogues' monastery, in fact it was around the equator, in the tropical forests and mangroves the roamed the shores.

She quickly spotted the next 'victim' of introduction, a dark skinned sorceress from the east.

'Greetings to you Sorceress.' Darkness said as she approached.

'Greetings to you stranger, I name is Sailis, and I am an _ex nihilo_ Sorceress, I hail form the eastern deserts. What is your name?' Sailis asked in a honey voice.

'I walk by the name Darkness, and I come from the Western Spine.' Darkness bowed in a way that her sensei had taught her was a custom among Sorcerers.

Sailis looked both a little impressed and shocked. 'Then you are of the Draconys-Necros people?' Darkness nodded. 'Why have you come so far form your home?'

'You came because you felt the evil energies building; I came because those same evil energies destroyed my home.'

'Oh, I am sorry; it is…a pleasure to meet you.'

Darkness nodded, she left the Sorceress, whom she seemed to have made uncomfortable. Darkness was beginning to learn just what kind of reputation the Draconys-Necros had among different peoples.

--- --- ---

She had met with and spoken to an Assassin, Tareshi was her name. She seemed very accepting of Darkness' people, and she had asked conversationally about one of the Draconian magic branches. Called the Inheritance magic branch because of the nature and name of the spells, Tareshi seemed earnestly interested in it.

Tareshi herself was an Assassin of the Viz-Jaq'taar an order of Mage Slayers who kept the peace among mages, and prevented any travesties like that between Horazon and Bartuc from occurring ever again.

With this all in mind Darkness chanced upon a Paladin. Who, having seen her first introduced himself.

'I am Owen Feydason; I am a paladin of the Zakarum form Kurast in the Far East. Who might you be?' He gave a slight bow out of courtesy.

Darkness introduced herself, again. _'This is going to quickly become a monologue.'_ After she was finished, Owen looked vaguely uninterested.

'Draconys-_Necros_? You don't practice death magic and raise the dead such as the Necromancers do, do you?'

'You have no idea about the magicks that my people implement.' Darkness hissed between her teeth, 'And don't you ever compare my people, or our magic, with those…fetid _travesties_.' This put Darkness in the foulest possible mood.

Owen shrugged that off, ignoring the unimpressed glare he was receiving.

'Fine.' Darkness left him at that.

--- --- ---

Darkness had firmly decided against speaking to the Necromancer, she found out his name from over hearing a discussion about magic between the Viz-Jaq'taar and the Sorceress. His name was Lance Acer'bus and he had travelled from the hills in the west, just north of the area of the Western Spine that Darkness had come form. In fact, he came from the prestigious school called _Palacio del Hueso_, which was in the centre of the capital city, Necrom.

She decided that for all that information, she only cared for the name. She probably would be cursing it under her breath at some point.

--- --- ---

At some point they had pretty much all gathered around the centre fire of the rogue encampment. Discussion ensued, about weapons and tactics, then shifting onto magic, and then onto the morbid reason that they were all there.

Soon after they had all retired to their gender respective tents.

Darkness lay on her side in her bedroll, she could feel that the other women were asleep, she could hear them gently breathing.

Darkness felt something strange stirring inside her, tonight, Rowan out of all spontaneity had welcomed her and accepted her with open arms, she guessed that was out of age and wisdom; Darkness rolled onto her back and turned her head so she could see the sleeping Assassin on the next nearest bedroll. Tareshi, however, had been friendly as well.

Darkness closed her eyes.

She guessed that feeling was strange because she hadn't felt it for so long.

Hope that things may get better.

* * *

**Arcanus:** Thanks to you all for reading, this is just an introductory chapter; the rest of all the chapters should follow by quests. 

Ciao.


	3. Chapter 2 The Control of Decay

**Warning**: The bad language? Yeah…that starts about here.

_**Chapter 2:**_

_**The Control of Decay**_

Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as a reality-in your  
own mind.  
- Bruce Lee

--- --- ---

The heavy rain ceased to pelt the ground, and a small group of people, with all its might.

It had been three days since Darkness' unexpected arrival at the Rogue Encampment.

The druid, Rowan, stretched his legs quickly as he exited the small rocky overhang that the group of four had been hiding in to wait out the five minutes of absolute deluge. He waved his hand quickly in the air and a raven materialized, perching on his hand. Rowan muttered something to the raven and the sent it off.

There was a crunch next to him, Owen appeared with his sword drawn, the Paladin had agreed to come along, he was young and thus inexperienced even though the fallen and quill rats they had so far chanced upon were no match for the inertia behind his blade.

Two light sets of foot steps and the white haired young man appeared, Lance, appeared with his product of Necromancy, a bleached skeleton that bore an axe and a round shield.

The grating of metal on wood hummed behind them, Darkness exited the cave with En'ubys ready at hand. She took one leer at the Lance and the skeleton, and then stalked towards Rowan.

'We're all set, and the rain has finally let up. Let's find this cave.' Rowan said as he drew his iron headed axe.

They set off again, away from the overhang with the hope that the rain would remain absent until their due return to the rogue encampment.

--- --- ---

The encampment was filled with the sounds of life and activity, the sounds of bows twanging, shouts, the occasional cat-call from the very rare traveler that had found their journey postponed at the encampment due to the devilry being wrought in the monastery.

In particular, the Amazon, Kiyana, was instructing the rogues that would spare their time, in several arrow magicks. She was emphasizing their need to be able to eliminate their enemies with one arrow and not two, because that would be a waste of arrows.

While Kiyana busied herself in those actions, Sailis, the Sorceress, and Tareshi, the Assassin talked; they spoke about Tareshi's order, the Viz-Jaq'taar, the order of mage slayers whom had been created to destroy all forms of Demonic magicks among the Vizjerei, Sailis' people, to prevent the same corruption that rifted apart the original clan. Bartuc and Horazon, both brothers, both men of Demonic magicks but of different ideals, that created a great schism and tore the world of the Mages apart, but revolutionized them, and turned them towards the elemental magicks that they now pursuer.

The Barbarian, Vorak, was continuing in his giving Charsi, the rogue blacksmith, and a hand with her metal works. He told her stories of Harrogath and all that he remembered of the great mountains, the snow, the night and the great bonfires that quickly ensued after a community meeting.

Charsi in turn told him all that she remembered, and then of her life with the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye, of her time at the Monastery and how it was like a home-away-from-home for her; she told him of her sadness at the taking of the Monastery by the demons of Hell and how she wished that she could just wish it all away.

When the conversation turned to sore wounds, they tipped it towards weaponry, to armour and shield, metalwork in general; Vorak hadn't much knowledge about leather and cloth works.

--- --- ---

'So…tell me why the hell the other four didn't come?' Another Gargantuan Beast had just rounded the corner of the cramped cave, three already lay dead and/or mutilated on the rocky cave floor. Darkness was beginning to get irritated, but her tiring, which was the case, was far more dangerous.

They had entered the cave not even ten minutes before hand, but after three Gargantuan Beasts, or Wendigoes as Owen referred to them as, a handful of Fallen and their Shaman, they were thoroughly exhausted.

Lance's skeleton launched itself onto the Wendigo's head, it firmly planted its axe into the muscular bulk's small head; even after the Wendigo was obviously dead it threw the skeleton against the wall, shattering it beyond repair. The beast collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Rowan grimaced, 'Vorak, Kiyana, Tareshi and Sailis didn't come because they are all far more practiced in their arts and it is far more feasible for just us four to tackle the Den because we get all the more experience.'

'Great.' Darkness rolled her eyes and found a rocky protrusion from the wall to sit on.

Behind them, there was a groan and a muffled thump, they turned around to see Lance on his hands and knees, he began to cough and his face was pale as his broken skeleton's bleached bone was.

Darkness rolled her eyes, 'Geez, don't die yet, skeleton boy, we aren't even ten yards in.'

'Darkness, shut up.' Owen hissed, he knelt next to Lance and handed him a mana potion, 'here this should get your energy levels back where they belong.'

Lance wheezed and nodded; he took the viscous blue potion and swallowed it, coughing a bit as the thick liquid slid down his throat. Owen patted him on the back and stood up, levering Lance onto his feet as he did so.

'Let that be a lesson, we all can only use up so much of our mana before we become weak enough to be influenced by hell.' Owen re-drew his sword, 'Don't press your luck with magic. And before you add any of your smart-ass quips Darkness, know that my glass of care is empty.' Darkness closed her mouth and bristled; she slid off her rocky seat and stalked off with En'ubys drawn.

Rowan sighed, he hefted his axe, and shrugged at Owen and Lance; they followed Darkness down one of the maze like corridors of the Den of Evil.

--- --- ---

'So…what are Draconys-Necros exactly?' Sailis let up a bit from her faux attack, she and Tareshi had been fencing for a short time, and the Sailis had been mulling over the question since Darkness had spoken to her for the first time.

With a quick parry with her katar, Tareshi stepped back, she thought.

'I can't tell you exactly, I don't know all that much, but through my training in the ranks of the Viz-Jaq'taar I learned a little about them.'

'What did you learn?'

'The Draconys-Necros are a race of shape shifters. They employ magic that calls on the ancient and hidden nature of the world, sometimes referred to as the 'Legend's Inheritance'. Those skills for instance can summon magic that allows them to say…breathe a form of toxic gas on a foe and freeze them, which would be Breath of the Basilisk, I think.' Tareshi looked thoughtful. "There are two other skill trees that they have; I'm a bit vaguer on them though. One is the shape shifting tree, it involves their abilities to shift into a dragon form, at first it's just a basic form with very little wings and no ability to fly, but when they're more powerful they can make a full transformation into a decent dragon that can fly. The other one is just abilities that are associated with being a dragon, even though they can use them and not be a dragon…'

Sailis raised an eyebrow; a quirky grin crept onto her face. 'So…where in this are you vague?'

Tareshi gave her a deadpan look, and then took a swipe at her with her katar.

Their parry-attack fencing continued.

--- --- ---

Two ethereal arrows of bone pierced through the first two zombies, a shrieking bolt of solid silver, Darkness' Beak of the Roc, slammed into the body of another knocking it back a few feet and re killing it.

A strangely coloured zombie lurked among the shadows of its minions, a rank disembodied power hung in the air around it like the dank smell that also clung to every breath the party of four drew.

'Minions first and then that puke coloured, ugly bastard.' Rowan rubbed a stone against the blade of his axe, in effort to sharpen the slightly dulled edge.

Owen had picked up a superior quality short sword than the one that he had been using hence far in the Den.

Lance's two skeletal minions had ceased their wobbly clattering, as he gained strength, they became sturdier.

Darkness quickly tested something quickly on the rock beside her, two elongated fangs flicked down from the roof of her mouth and pointed forwards; they ejected a liquid onto the rock which promptly dissolved on contact with the highly acidic fluid. _Just like a spitting cobra._

They were currently situated behind a wall that obscured the zombies' view of them, an advantageous point from which they could plan their attack. Rowan had made sure they all were clear on the 'defend each other' part of the strategy.

They were just about to launch the attack when a piercing cry of 'Rakinishu!' echoed through the tunnel behind them.

A group of Fallen and three shamans appeared. Their incomprehensible cries drew the attention of the zombies.

In less that six cruelly slow seconds, the four were surrounded.

'Shit.' Owen growled. His mind was racing, 'two to the Fallen, and two to the zombies.'

Rowan nodded and turned and focused his energy on the impending walking corpses, Darkness stood with him.

A Kraken's tentacle shot out of the ground and made swatting attempts to destroy the undead that oozed towards them at a constant pace.

Rowan sent his two angry ravens forth, Nike not among them, they were summoned and Nike was a tamed raven. Following the birds was a furious storm of fire that raged and tore through the zombies, burning and slowing them, but not stopping them.

Owen and Lance faired no better, the Fallen kept coming, and neither of them could get to the Shamans because the Fallen demons would just get in their way.

'I'm going to go around the sides to get to the Shaman,' Lance said to Owen as he hacked at a nearby Fallen with his sword. He left his two skeletons that fought viciously in his stead. Usually this would have irked Owen even a little, but he was just focused on the task at hand.

It almost seemed easy for Lance to get around behind the tenacious little demons, he released his Teeth spell up on the nearest of the Shaman, the two little white projectiles zipped right through Shaman, dragging some important organs out the other side with it. With one Shaman dead, the raising of the Fallen slowed and Owen started to make progress with killing them.

Lance shot another set of Teeth at the next Shaman, he called to one of his skeletal minions, and it ran over and began hacking at the Shaman, who, after the blows from the Teeth smacked at the skeleton with hits so feeble that not even a hairline fracture appeared on the skeleton. The Shaman finally went down with an axe in its skull.

Lance stayed behind his skeleton, out of reach of the Shaman, his hands on his knees he panted. _I can't do that again, I keep over using my magic._ He glanced up at the Shaman. _I can manage one more Teeth spell and one Amplify Damage curse, but after that…I'm going to be relying on the lessons my father gave me with a sword._ With a glare, Lance began forming the patterns in his mind that materialized the Teeth, he released the energy and it slammed into the Shaman just as his skeleton fell back into a pile of bones. The last Fallen Shaman joined it in death.

Lance witnessed Owen relieving the last Fallen demon of its head, he felt slightly sick at the sight of it, but put that to the back of his mind. He nodded to Owen as he passed, they both headed to join Rowan and Darkness.

While the carnage with the Fallen demons and their Shamans had been occurring Darkness and Rowan had changed their strategy slightly, attacking form a distance didn't seem to be working, so they had begun casting their spells, Firestorm from Rowan and Beak of the Roc from Darkness, and then hacking away at the zombies with sword and axe in the wake of the spells.

A burning cold hand landed on Darkness' shoulder, she spun around ready to impale whatever it was with En'ubys, but as she turned the mauve hued corpse latched onto the side of her neck with its festering teeth. She let out a hissing yelp; she shot the acid from her venom fangs onto the join between the corpse's neck and shoulders. The corpse let her go, Darkness backed away with her hand over the wound, she hissed in pain.

The corpse's jaw moved and guttural rasping sounds formed words that hung on the breath of decay, _'Corpssssssssefffiiiiiiiiiiirre. K-k-kiiiiiiiilll ddddraaaaaaaaagonn.'_

Whatever fetid saliva had gotten into the wound on Darkness' neck worked quickly, her vision wavered briefly and she stumbled backwards and rested her hand on the wall for support.

Suddenly a halo of heavy copper hung over the heads of the zombies combined with an, 'Attack them now!!' from Lance, they realized it was an Amplify damage curse.

Owen's sword sung through the air as it cut through zombies left and right. Rowan's axe hacked at disordered flailing limbs, his ravens furiously pecking. To boost the effect of Lance's curse, Owen was straining to hold up the Might aura that was giving Rowan and himself a boost in attack power.

After breathing a bit Lance joined the fray; the first time Lance had proven that his father was an excellent teacher of swordplay.

Darkness slumped against the wall, her skin had grayed and she was sweating. _Fuck… _She took a few deep breaths and sought though her potions for one that would cure, or at least aid in the curing of the effect of the saliva that was beginning to run through her veins.

_K-k-kiiiiiiiilll ddddraaaaaaaaagonn._

Darkness' vision dulled, she tried to fight it, but the heavy throb in her neck spread though her body.

--- --- ---

Darkness woke to the sounds of a bustling camp, muffled by the fabric wall of the tent. She lay there staring at the canvas roof of the tent recalling the events she remembered before she had passed out.

Corpsefire was forefront in her mind, the grotesque image of its bloody permanent grin was burnt into her brain.

The door flaps of the tent opened.

'Ah, so the lass is awake.' Tareshi entered and squatted down by Darkness's left side. 'I heard you were bitten by that ass of a zombie. That'd go up the top of the painful things to be bitten by list.'

Darkness went to turn her head to see Tareshi properly, a sharp feeling of discomfort burned in her neck; she winced and decided to try moving later.

'Ah, yeah, that. Akara told Rowan, who wasn't going to come in the tent because it's for ladies only, to tell me to tell you, that the poison stuff that got in your neck had a similar effect as freezing, it also drained your mana energy a bit; also that when you're up and walking that you should go talk to her.'

'Thanks.' There was a pause, then, 'How did we get back? Did they use a Town portal?'

'No,' Tareshi started, 'they didn't want anything going into the cave and trying to get through, or even look through the portal, so you were carried back.' The Viz-Jaq'taar assassin grinned.

'Oh, whoop-dee-freaking-doo.' Darkness covered her face with her hands. 'I'm going to get up. As terrible as that sounds.' Darkness pushed the linen that was covering her back to reveal that she was thoroughly bandaged around her neck and shoulders, what looked like a bruise had appeared around the area of the wound, it even crept passed the bandages covering the injury.

'Need any help?' enquired Tareshi.

'I can get dressed on my own, thank you.' Darkness muttered peevishly, she picked up a bust under-shirt and slid that on over the bandages; she then buttoned a black tunic over that. On went the black breeches and boots, then the belt with baldric and kris.

She turned and found Tareshi had gone, she had probably left after Darkness had answered her. Darkness rubbed the bandaged area to try and rid herself of the incessant throb, and then she strode out of the tent.

---

Upon arriving at Akara's purple tent, the old seer bustled up to her and asked after her health. Darkness shrugged and told her that she had had far worse than a measly zombie bite.

Akara sighed, 'Well thank you for clearing out the Den of Evil along with the other three, in my thanks I give you this, it is a token of my appreciation, after reading it, the words will invoke a power in you that will aid in your learning of how to use and conserve your mana, and hence you will be able to cast stronger and more complicated spells.' Akara smiled wearily, she handed Darkness a scroll sealed with a small piece of red wax.

Darkness thanked her, ever so stiffly.

She walked over to the fireside. The other Seven were going about their own business, albeit Rowan, whom having heard from Tareshi that Darkness was on her feet, appeared on an adjacent log.

'So how are you?'

'Far better than I was before I passed out.' Darkness looked up from the still sealed scroll. Rowan was chuckling quietly behind his hand. 'Please enlighten me about what you find so funny?'

'Don't worry. Say, what are you going to practice after using that scroll?'

'Haven't the faintest idea.'

'I haven't seen you use the shape-shifting skill that your kind is gifted with.'

Darkness tensed and tightened her grip on the scroll, scrunching it. She dropped her gaze and stared fiercely at the ground. Her hair fell around her face, concealing it as she willed memories back where they belonged in her head, where she didn't remember them.

A tear ran down her nose and dropped onto the ground, congealing in the dust. Rowan's hand rested on her shoulder.

'You don't have to say.'

'Hey, Rowan…Darkness. You aren't going to believe this.'

Rowan and Darkness looked up at Owen.

'Kashya has a quest for us. We're supposed to kill Bloodraven.'

--- --- ---

--- --- ---

--- --- ---

Thanks ya'll for reading this. :D Makes a girl proud ta think that people might just like the story she's writing. (:

I'm re-doing the introduction part of Chapter 1, because on popular word: it sucked, and fear not, I completely agree. XD

Thanks heaps to all my reviewers.

But I must, MUST say, even though I said I wouldn't do this:

The Phrenologikal Cat: You're excellent, I owe you a lot, and you were an integral piece in improving what I've written. :D In your reviews this made me laugh hardest:

Harry was shocked to find out that it had been Peter Pettigrew who had betrayed his parents! (A/N: Who saw that coming:P)

Ophelion: -tackle hug- You gave me the final inspiring poke to get this freakin' chapter done:D Thanks mate!

Bob the barbarian: Thank you for making me laugh!! XD but sadly no, she can't turn into an automaton (and why am I disbelieving that they are part of Greek Mythology?) but thanks for being cool!

Everyone else who has read and reviewed, thanks. You pwn. AND I SWEAR I WILL UPDATE MORE!!

Ciao for now!

Arcanus

PS: Schism is an awesome word, and all that stuff about the Viz'jerei and the Viz-Jaq'taar and stuff...yeah, that all comes from the Little Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction Expansion Booklet. LD2LoDEB for short.


	4. Chapter 3 The Legacy of Bloodraven

My version of what happened after the defeat of Diablo beneath Tristram… cackles madly.

Also I liked this line from the former version of this story, and I wanted to share it with you:

_Darkness raised an eyebrow. 'Sure, sure, when I got up Rhune Lance wasn't asleep.' _

_Rowan looked surprised. 'What? Was he staring at you?' _

Oh, and this one:

_They did however encounter a colony of Fallen demons, their Shaman and a uniquely coloured Shaman, apparently called Bishiboshi, who looked like he had been vomited on backwards and dragged through a oversized patch of thistle and then for the effect, dumped in radioactive gunk to make him glow a rather putrid shade of green. _

Needless to say, that was VERY quickly discarded.

Oh yes, and WARNING: MAJOR GHEED HATE IN THIS CHAPTER!

--- --- ---

**_Chapter 3: _**

****

**_The Legacy of Blood Raven _**

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?"  
-- Sydney J. Harris

--- --- ---

'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'YOU'RE NOT COMING?!'' Darkness yelled. The 'reason' that she couldn't follow the others on the mission to the Sisterhood's graveyard throbbed on the side of her neck. The wound she had received from the mutant zombie, Corpsefire, was taking its sweet time to heal.

'We mean exactly what we said, Darkness.' Owen, the Paladin, his arms crossed, and a rather irritable tone crept through his voice, 'You're still injured, and we _know_ that it's giving you migraines. And hell, we don't need that in the field. Archangels help you if you get dizzy after two seconds of swinging your sword.'

The Barbarian hefted an axe, 'and we don't need you getting in the way either.'

That comment just earned him a death glare.

'But you're leaving tomorrow, I will be fine, and the only way I can train properly is in the field.' Darkness' Draconys-Necrosian pride wouldn't let her back down from her failure in the Den of Evil. She also resented the fact that they were taking the Necromancer, Lance, with them; graveyards were as much her area of knowledge as they were his. In the back of her mind she _knew_ that it was because between the two of them, there was such abhorrence that it would ruin most strategies that they developed.

Like hell she was going to admit it to them.

--- --- ---

No matter what she could have said, nothing would have worked, so here she was, sitting against the bailey of the encampment. It wasn't like Darkness had given in, she had just gone along with what everyone else wanted. Played nice. But who was she kidding? After the 'serious' words from Rowan she gave in. It was hard, he reminded her of her sensei.

He was also a little reminiscent of her old man.

_'Damn.'_ Her concentration had broken. Darkness opened her eyes and stared at the sky. So far she held only two people even slightly in respect, which was Rowan and the Viz-Jaq'taar, Tareshi.

The Sorceress, Sailis, was edgy around her; most likely because she knew of the Draconys' magicks and culture. Probably also because Darkness was a bitter cynical turd as well, but who wouldn't be?

She pretty much blatantly hated both the Paladin, _and_ the Necromancer. Neither Owen, nor Lance had any decent qualities in her opinion.

There was no good news in Necromancers. Yeah, sure, their clans _used_ to get along, but that was before that stupid Necromancer bastard went and destroyed all bonds between the clan in some political kafuffle, betraying both clans and causing a huge gouge of mistrust.

There was that word again. Schism. There was a great Schism between the two clans because of it. It only got wider. Darkness remembered when a Necromancer had killed her mother. Her father died from fatal wounds and a broken heart shortly afterwards. Almost every Necromancer that she had ever met had done something terrible. Now was no time to trial trust on one.

The Paladin? He might have been alright if he wasn't like an icy pole with a sword up his ass instead of a stick. She had nothing against their religion, as most people seemed to think, but she just couldn't stand _him_. Darkness had known a few Paladins in her short life. One with firey hair that had helped forged En'ubys along with her father. She had apparently moved to some desert place, slightly closer to the Paladin's homeland, but still distant across a stretch of water. Now, she was a Paladin that Darkness respected.

The Barbarian was a Barbarian. Enough said. Oh, and he was blunt. That got right up her nose.

As far as Darkness was concerned so far; Kiyana, the Amazonian warrior…she was just _there_.

Darkness stood, stretched her legs and surveyed the near vicinity, away from the general centre of the camp, where most people were. Even with the bailey wall between the people and the demons and undead outside, they still kept their distance.

She found what she wanted, a nice flourishing lavender plant. Darkness sat down in the 'half lotus' position adjacent to the bush. She placed her hands on it and closed her eyes. She slowed her breathing until it was slow and deep, she pushed her heart rate down.

Darkness concentrated on the wound in her shoulder, she felt for the 'death energies' clotting the area, with the feeling of the death energies in mind, she searched for any other area in her body that had the same feeling, even a small one. All her wounds had been treated while she was unconscious, but there was no problem with speeding up the healing process a little.

Darkness sent her senses to search for the life energy strands in the plant, all life was the same, so she could use whatever living object she needed, for now, and it was the lavender bush. Darkness tugged on the life energies in the bush until they were loose; she then pulled them into her body and used them to replace the death energies that were in her wounds. She needed a large amount to replace the energies in her zombie bite, so she moved the death energies from her to the plant and the life energies from the plant to her.

She opened her eyes to find the sun starting to dip below the horizon, a sickly pale colour slinking though the clouds gathering in the west. The lavender bush in front of her was now half dead. Only half though, so she pulled off all the dead parts and deposited them in the nearest convenient place. She then stretched and was pleased to find that the bite no longer ached.

She smirked. And then walked off to find and irritate the Barbarian. Or the Amazon.

--- --- ---

For some reason the camp was unusually quite, she almost wanted to wreak some havoc just so there would be at least some sound. Some sign of life.

Darkness took it upon herself to explore areas of the encampment that she hadn't yet visited. The northern corner seemed like a good place to start; in passing she had only seen that there was a wagon of wares, a musty sign that couldn't be read from the distance she had been from it, and a double tent.

It seemed harmless enough, but possibly interesting enough to quell her boredom.

Close up, however, the tent and wagon seemed even more boring than she first though. The wagon held some mildewed pillows with boxes piled up on them, and some wares hung around. Most of them were identifiable only to the point that she knew that they were boots, or belts or some form of weapon on shield. She couldn't tell much otherwise.

'Well, g'evenin' teh ya m'dear.' A colloquial accent with a man attached to it came around from the back of the wagon.

He was…rotund, and garbed in beige and brown, not seeming to be badly done in the money department.

Darkness realized how comfortable En'ubys felt on her hip; the man continued forward, greedily smudging his palms together.

'M'dear, I'm Gheed,' Darkness remembered the name being spat from Kashya's mouth earlier in the week, 'are ya 'ere to examine mah wares? Or are ya 'ere to examine, summin' else?' He tongue slimed his lips, he continued walking towards her, slowly biding his time.

'No, actually, I was looking for, what's her name? Kiyana. The Amazon. It seems I've got the wrong area of camp.' Darkness, feeling a great amount of dis-ease while being around the near area with…this Gheed thing in it, she spun on her heel and made to walk off, in earnest to find Kiyana or the Barbarian…or someone.

A bloated hand landed on her shoulder, 'But m'girl, I'm not 'alf done wit' ya.' Darkness went to pull away, 'besides, I'm sure you'd like mah tent, it's nice and big.' Darkness stiffened, Gheed slipped his hand around her waist.

And felt a scabbard of a sword.

Ice cold metal met with his throat, it pressed against his skin with a threat that washed like frost over him. Darkness turned so he could see the left side of her face, she wasn't looking at him, more away, towards the fire at the centre of camp.

'Well, Mister Gheed, it seems that we have come to a form of stalemate. However, I do know a way,' she looked at him, her eyes glowed the colour of acidic golden yellow, a sadistic smile slid onto her face, 'oh yes, I do know a way that we might end this little stalemate of ours, and do a few others a lovely favour.' The sickly sweet tone she used, and the venom in her eyes made Gheed cringe, he broke out in a cold sweat as the creature before him pressed the sword a little harder against his gullet.

A huge shadow loomed behind her, a strong hand gripped the arm holding En'ubys, the Barbarian grabbed Gheed's arm and spun the paralysed man away, he hit the bailey wall of the encampment and gasped. The wind knocked out of him.

Vorak passed a stern glance at Darkness, who only continued her poisonous glare at Gheed, and then marched forward, grabbed the frightened man by the collar and told him, in short words, exactly what Darkness could have, and would have done to him.

Gheed disappeared inside his tent shortly afterwards.

'Come, I'll get you a drink.' Vorak said as he walked back towards the centre of the encampment.

Darkness shook herself. She blinked and felt her face, something wasn't right. There seemed to be less light, just moments ago she could have sworn that the light was as bright as if it were day.

--- --- ---

Vorak and Darkness sat by the fire, both with a hearty mug of thick mead in hand.

Vorak chugged down a quarter of his mug and chuckled. 'You couldn't drink all that. You've got such a small body.'

Darkness looked mildly amused. 'Well you see here, the Draconys people have a very strong metabolism for alcohol. I could drink at least three of these and still be completely sober.'

Vorak ceased chuckling, 'What? A fully grown Barbarian could only take two before becoming a little drunk.'

'But you're not a Draconys.'

'Great, you must drink a lot of alcohol then.'

'No, actually.'

'So there's no side effects, you're immune to the effects of alcohol?'

'Not immune. But after about three and a bit mugs, you may start to burp fire.'

There was nothing.

'Just kidding.' Darkness finished her mug, and retired to the tent that she and the other women were designated to sleep in.

--- --- ---

The next four days passed much like the last. Darkness practiced simple manoeuvres with En'ubys. She joined the rogues being taught to wield a bow with magic, sometimes watching, sometimes participating with a basic short bow and no magic. She cleared off any small creatures that threatened the encampment, and maybe practiced some of her own magic. There was a spell she was eager to try, called Breath of the Cockatrice, when used it sent a jet of gas towards the target and on contact would paralyse it.

She used it to catch a few rabbits for the supper meal for the rogues.

--- --- ---

The fifth day heralded the return of the five who had been on the mission to banish Bloodraven.

Darkness watched with removed amusement as Sailis handed Kashya a shiny round object with a ruby inset in the centre. _'That must be Bloodraven's amulet. All rogue captains seem to have one. Kashya's is copper with a greenish stone in it. Turquoise, I think.' _

A glance from Tareshi brought Darkness towards them, Kashya was talking.

'Come, down to the fire, I'll tell you what I know of why Bloodraven turned on us like this.'

The sun waned in the sky as dense clouds bunched in the air. Rumbles of thunder and a rare flash of lighting told of rain to come.

Around the fire the Eight sat, lending an ear to a battle hardened heart with a story to tell.

'As far as I know,' Kashya began, she sat on a log facing them all across a fluttering fire, 'there were three who did battle in the finale deep in the catacombs beneath Tristram. Only three, the others, the armies that were sent into the labyrinth under that forsaken cathedral were all but killed or converted into the hordes of evil creatures.

The three heroes that faced Diablo were the only that survived; a sorcerer from the deserts of Lut Golein, a freelance warrior and Bloodraven, our rogue captain.

'I couldn't tell you of the horrors that befell those three heroes in the catacombs, I was defending the town of Tristram, but I can tell you that the three when they emerged, looked as if they had been murdered and brought back to life.'

Kashya took an offered mug of mead from a young rogue, passed a nod of thanks and continued.

'They celebrated the win against the massive evil for days, and Bloodraven returned to us. I do not know what happened to the other two but, as I accompanied Bloodraven back to the monastery I felt as if she were…someone, no something else.

'Many times she woke in the night, upon our return, screaming something about 'the pass' and some 'maiden' who was to come. We thought that she was just reliving the nightmares she had seen beneath Tristram, but it seemed to not be so.

'The strange Wanderer passed through, we thought nothing of it, and he went on his business, on his way through the monastery. After that Bloodraven disappeared.

'At the same time, the hell creatures, the undead and…and the evil beasts appeared and took the rogue monastery.

'So many died, and so few escaped. More than both were converted to corrupted rogues, and they dart in the fields killing our scouts.'

Kashya took a swig of the mead, she breathed for a bit and no one spoke.

'It seems that more happened beneath Tristram than any of us thought. Diablo must have influenced Bloodraven to have become the evil that she was…'

Kashya finished her mead and stood.

'That is all I know, and I must thank you for releasing Bloodraven. I'm sure she will pass on to a better place. Without the torment forced upon her.'

--- --- ---

--- --- ---

--- --- ---

That's all for this chapter folks.

Feel free to tell me how this chapter could be improved. I may not change this chapter, but I certainly will use what you say in future chapters

I hope you like my interpretation of what happened to Bloodraven, and that she wasn't just walking in a field and randomly decided that, 'hey, maybe I'll be evil for a bit' and go and raise some zombies and shit in a graveyard.

This is the longest chapter yet. Wow. I didn't know I could write so much crap in so…much time.

Flames will be used to cook banana bread.

R+R

Arcanus Deus Necros


End file.
